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aussief1

Official Pre-season Testing Thread

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Thanks for your continued ferrari bias- It must have been quite difficult finding those quotes from Michael when he has recently been reported as stating that it is too close to call between the two - Kimi & Lewis' race simulation showed the mclaren marginally head on pace, but as ususual, you've conveniently omitted it

:rolleyes:

Didn't he already post something along those lines though???

A summary of the testing this week from motor21 (Thanks to rodlamas)

- Fernando Alonso and Renault will start the year with car that nothing that's done to it makes it fast. Alonso has been on a non-optimistic mood for the last days and this has beem emphasized by the race simulation he did today at the same as Kimi, with much slower times.

- During the mentioned race simulation when beginning the stints with tons of fuel, Alonso was lapping in between 1:24.2-1:24.9, whereas Kimi was in between 1:22.9 and 1:23.3. At the end of the stint Alonso was at 1:22.8 and Kimi at 1:22.0.

- Ferrari hasn't been the most consistent team in terms of long stins during race simulations. Mclaren has been running a bit faster in some occasions but the gap is small that both teams seem to be going head-to-head during the first rounds of the season.

- The day had lots of incidents including two spectaculars spins by Bourdaus and Glock.

- BMW still has major reliability issues with its gearbox. Heidfeld broke another one today.

- The group just behind Ferrari and Mclaren seems to be pretty even and with 3 teams fighting for 3rd place, BMW, RBR and Williams. It's expected that Renault will join them, but at the moment they're lacking a bit of pace.

I don't see a great deal of Ferrari bias in the bolded part :eusa_think:

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Renault's problems:

1) New brake system does not work well

2) New aero-kit: does nor work well

3) Tires (Brigestone) behaviour: still not entirely understood. Bridgestone techs. were closely working with Renault guys. They spent a lot of time in Renault telemetrics lorry. They were very interested in so called "curva de la Caixa", a part of Montmel

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You emailed the track? Now there's devotion for you! And btw, I'm not surprised BMW are testing aerodynamicals - they are some of the fiddliest part-icals of a car. :P

I told you I work with F1 news*. I not only translate but sometimes I have to find out new stuff too ;)

* no, not the fansites, i mean.

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Of course! I remember you are a journo now. I just hope you're better than the Spaniards and most of the Brits doing that job. Otherwise I might accidentally slate one of your articles on here! :P

PS We both know you used to email the tracks and teams long before you had to for your work. :mf_tongue:

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Of course! I remember you are a journo now. I just hope you're better than the Spaniards and most of the Brits doing that job. Otherwise I might accidentally slate one of your articles on here! :P

PS We both know you used to email the tracks and teams long before you had to for your work. :mf_tongue:

We both who? :mf_tongue:

anyways, i translate all this spanish s##t of As and Marca

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Honda complete three-day Jerez test

By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 6th 2008, 20:07 GMT

The Honda Racing team completed their preparations for the start of the season with a three-day test at the Jerez circuit.

The Japanese squad worked alone during the three days, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello being joined by test driver Alex Wurz as the team tried their latest aerodynamic and mechanical developments.

Each driver was at the wheel of the RA108 for two days, covering a total of 603 laps, over 2670 kms of running. No times were issued by the team.

Button believes the new parts have allowed the team to make a step forward before the first race.

"Our final test before the start of the season went well this week and it was very useful to evaluate the new developments that we have on the car," said Button. "We completed some long run work in preparation for the race weekends and I was pleased that we have made a step forward in terms of performance.

"We are realistic about our expectations for the first few races and know that we still have a long way to go."

Barrichello added: "I drove the car in the launch specification and with the new aero package this week, which was very useful to provide a direct performance comparison.

"Today I completed a lot of running with the new developments which was very beneficial. It is difficult to know where we are compared to the competition as we were testing privately, but I definitely feel we have taken a step in the right direction.

"We have improved the car and I feel comfortable that we are well prepared for the start of the season."

Source: autosport.com

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Ferrari completes final shakedown before Australian GP

Yesterday, Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer completed the final shakedown for the two F2008's that will be used by Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa during next week's Australian Grand Prix. The shakedown took place at the Scuderia's home track Fiorano. Earlier this week, the Scuderia Toro Rosso had a final shakedown of their cars at the same circuit.

Source: http://www.totalf1.com/fullstory/view/2473..._Australian_GP/

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Still think they'll struggle at first personally.

Maybe, but t's hard to overcome momentum lost. Honda don't need more money, nor do they need a grand infusion of talent. What they need is organization. They need someone who knows how to win and can direct their resources effectively to that end. Signing Brawn will give them all the tools they need and I expect a good showing from them in 3 races' time.

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Ferrari completes final shakedown before Australian GP

Yesterday, Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer completed the final shakedown for the two F2008's that will be used by Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa during next week's Australian Grand Prix. The shakedown took place at the Scuderia's home track Fiorano. Earlier this week, the Scuderia Toro Rosso had a final shakedown of their cars at the same circuit.

Source: http://www.totalf1.com/fullstory/view/2473..._Australian_GP/

I can't remember the last time Ferrari allowed another teams to run in Fiorano...

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I can't remember the last time Ferrari allowed another teams to run in Fiorano...

I thought the same thing AJ. Must have something to do with the Ferrari engine supply contract with STR.

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I thought the same thing AJ. Must have something to do with the Ferrari engine supply contract with STR.

Thats what i thought too...

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Maybe, but t's hard to overcome momentum lost. Honda don't need more money, nor do they need a grand infusion of talent. What they need is organization. They need someone who knows how to win and can direct their resources effectively to that end. Signing Brawn will give them all the tools they need and I expect a good showing from them in 3 races' time.

Yup Brawn was a hugely important signing for them. I think you're right that their main weakness has been organisation and lack of direction, though I tend to think it'll take longer than 3 races. I reckon they'll probably start off pretty uncompetitive and very gradually get better as the season progresses, and then make a big jump forward next winter.

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Yup Brawn was a hugely important signing for them. I think you're right that their main weakness has been organisation and lack of direction, though I tend to think it'll take longer than 3 races. I reckon they'll probably start off pretty uncompetitive and very gradually get better as the season progresses, and then make a big jump forward next winter.

I think they'll take at least until the end of the European races to have saved (some) face, then they should make the rest of the year a huge testing session for '09 - apart from pride, they've nothing to lose.

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Brawn will make little difference to the actual car this season, Honda will have another tough year. Brawn's efforts will be rewarded in 2009 and even then it won't be a race winning car.

Honda may benefit from his input this season in terms of organising the team, but I wouldn't expect too much from Honda.

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I think they'll take at least until the end of the European races to have saved (some) face, then they should make the rest of the year a huge testing session for '09 - apart from pride, they've nothing to lose.

What!! they still have that???

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Testing? Testing's slightly more important than remembering to close your eyes if a nuke goes off right underneath the chair you're sitting in.

Some conclusions I drew from testing:

The winners will win.

The champions will win the championship.

Red Bull, Williams, BMW-Sauber, Renault, and Toyota will have a close battle in the points, but a boring one on-track, so I don't care because who watches an auto race just to see a list of drivers in order by how consistent they are?

McLaren and Ferrari will have a hell of a battle for 10th and 11th, but again, who cares?

The cars get uglier every year, don't they?

Force India won't win the WCC.

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Brawn will make little difference to the actual car this season, Honda will have another tough year. Brawn's efforts will be rewarded in 2009 and even then it won't be a race winning car.

Honda may benefit from his input this season in terms of organising the team, but I wouldn't expect too much from Honda.

Yep totally agree. With Red Bull and Williams showing promise, can't see Honda moving up the grid.

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